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On March 18, 2015, the Very Reverend Fr. Thomas Hopko reposed in the Orthodox faith. He was dean emeritus of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary in Crestwood, NY, and was very active in ecumenical, social, and theological issues of our time. In fact, given the number of podcasts and articles he has written, one wonders is there anything Fr. Thomas did not talk about? In honor of his memory and his spirituality, I’m reblogging a beautiful maxim of Christian living which is not some sort of random points he came up with, but you can tell throughout his life and in his lectures he lived up to each and everyone of these maxims. May the Lord repose his soul in the bosoms of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and may his prayers be with us all. Amen!

Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of all ages. Amen!

55 Maxims for Christian Living
by Fr. Thomas Hopko
1. Be always with Christ.
2. Pray as you can, not as you want.
3. Have a keepable rule of prayer that you do by discipline.
4. Say the Lord’s Prayer several times a day.
5. Have a short prayer that you constantly repeat when your mind is not occupied with other things.
6. Make some prostrations when you pray.
7. Eat good foods in moderation.
8. Keep the Church’s fasting rules.
9. Spend some time in silence every day.
10. Do acts of mercy in secret.
11. Go to liturgical services regularly
12. Go to confession and communion regularly.
13. Do not engage intrusive thoughts and feelings. Cut them off at the start.
14. Reveal all your thoughts and feelings regularly to a trusted person.
15. Read the scriptures regularly.
16. Read good books a little at a time. 17…